I Am Unknown
by Mia-Teresa-Davenport
Summary: They found her wandering the streets of Los Angeles all alone in the dead of night. No one knows who she is or where she came from; they can't figure out her past, and they can't get her to talk, not even one word. But then a certain young boy befriends her, and she confides in him something that will bring the whole world crashing down. [Other genres: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Suspense]
1. Prologue: Dark and Uncomfortable

I Am Unknown.

Summary: They found her wandering the streets of Los Angeles all alone in the dead of night. No one knows who she is or where she came from; they can't figure out her past, and they can't get her to talk, not even one word. But then a certain young boy befriends her, and she confides in him something that will bring the whole world crashing down.

* * *

><p>The many lights of the moving vehicle are too loud and too bright. They hurt her eyes immensely. She hopes to out-stare the lights that hang above her head. She fails.<p>

In response to failing the staring contest with the lights, she blinks her eyes two times. Tears of relief prick at the corners of her eyes. She had been staring at the lights for over two minutes. Two minutes and thirty six seconds to be exact. She hadn't blinked once in that time. The girl blinks now, and she's wary to find relief. Relief is a very foreign emotion to her.

The back of the truck is too hot. There's no air conditioning, not even any windows to look outside the truck. There's just darkness, a long wooden bench that's bolted to the left side of the inside of the truck, a guard and a supposed female fugitive. The girl and the guard are drenched in sweat in the first fifteen minutes they've been in this truck for. The minutes seem to blur together, so the girl is guessing.

The truck bounces against the road they're on. She thinks it's a paved road, but she can't tell for sure. There is also a sheet of protective glass of the truck. That's probably so the girl can't get up and attack the driver and escape, but she doesn't know.

The girl wishes she could ask the guard what time it is, but she doesn't want to speak. Or, more accurately, she can't.

"You want to know something, girlie?" Asks the guard that's sitting across from her, on the cold smooth cement floor. She looks over from her spot on the wooden bench, waiting for the man to finish what he was going to tell her. She tries not to look irritable, tries to not let her emotions show. She wants to keep her face blank, she tries so hard to have that blank look on her face, but she's not sure what she looks like. But still, there is that flare of that irritable emotion. She had been hoping for silence the rest of the way.

But today is _not_ her day.

The man had been running his mouth off for thirty five minutes, from what she could remember. She's been counting to occupy her mind. The girl wishes that she could make the guard shut up. But she can't do that. That would be bad.

She can't even move. The restraints hurt her hands and her feet, but she ignores it.

"It won't be so bad." He says, pulling the girl out of her thoughts. She resists the urge to snort and roll her eyes at that. It_ will_ be so, so bad.

"It'll be your new home." He smiles a reassuring smile at her. He's trying to give her a false sense of security. Well, he's got another thing coming to him. The false sense of security won't work on her. She's too jaded.

He's lying. The 'it won't be so bad' part is clearly a lie. She doesn't like that smile either. But she doesn't let him know any of that.

So instead, the girl just nods her head two times, moves her head to flick her hair behind her ear. She wishes she could use her hands to move her hair out of her face, but her hands and feet are tied together. Her hands are tied by zip-ties, and her feet are held together by Velcro restraints. Her feet itch, but she can't do anything about it. They've been itching for about twenty five minutes now. She lets her feet itch.

"They're going to take good care of you." The guard says.

The girl just nods. She has no idea who 'they' are, but judging by the fact that she got taken- sorry, kidnapped is the more appropriate word right now- off the streets of Los Angeles in the middle of the night, 'they' can't be good.

They fall silent, unable to think of anything to say. (Well, the guard does. The girl has many things she would like to say, but can't.) The silence is very thick around them, falling over the guard and the possible fugitive like a blanket or a shroud.

The hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable truck continues to roll along the road.


	2. Chapter 1: This Is Your New Home

"Get up, girl." Says the guard's voice gently, bringing her out of her sleeping state.

The girl's eyes slowly blink open. She's groggy. She doesn't remember where she is. She's disoriented for a few seconds. Panic fills her veins and she struggles to move, to try and escape, but she only ends up hitting her head against the cold wall of the truck. She moans in pain for a few seconds, but then the pain goes away.

"We're here. We just got here." Says the man. He pulls out a small item from his pocket, and clicks a button that's located in the middle of the item. A knife springs up from a slot. It glints in the light.

The girl starts panicking, twisting and turning in her restraints. Fear and adrenaline rush through her veins all at once, crashing through her like a tidal wave.

The guard notices her expression and her reaction. The man's green eyes soften. "Relax, Subject AX46." He says calmly, his face neutral. "I'm only cutting your restraints off. You'll be able to move more freely." And with that, the man brings down the knife and cuts through the Velcro restraints, and they break with a loud snap and fall to the cold ground. He doesn't do anything about the zip-ties that are still woven tightly on her hands. The man helps her to her feet but still ignores the zip-ties.

The guard presses his thumb to a scanner that's near the back of the truck, and the double doors of the truck swing open. Immediately, harsh sunlight fills the dark truck. The girl jerks back instantly, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

"Sorry about that, Subject AX46." The man apologizes. "I should've warned you about the sunlight."

She frowns. Subject AX46? She may have lost her memory, but she knows that Subject AX46 can't be her name.

So what exactly is her name?

She opens her eyes and looks at the guard and silently asks the question with her eyes, but the guard shrugs.

"That is your name for now. I can't reveal anything else. That's classified information that only Hatch and the Higher Ups know."

She shrugs. That doesn't really matter, her name. A lot of things don't matter to her right now. Surviving, however, does matter. A lot.

She stumbles out of the car, still dazed and confused. The man grabs her arm and guides her to a chain-link fence. A gray slab of concrete rests directly to the left of the fence. The man walks over and presses his pinkie finger to a button and pulls it back, dropping his hand at his side. His hand closes into a tight fist.

"Speak your name for authentication and access into Facility X." Says an automatic female voice.

The man leans forward and says into the intercom, "Wade Harrington."

"Processing authentication for Wade Harrington. One moment please." There is a slight pause. "Authentication received." Says the voice after a minute of silence. "Access granted." Says the female voice again, almost robotically. The chain link fence pulls apart, revealing another large fence in its wake. But this time, it isn't a chain link fence, like the first one had been. It is a large metal one. That must be for more protection.

But protection from what, exactly? Cannibals? Rogue animals? Human beings? Something of that nature?

Are these security measures to keep things _out_ or to keep things _in_?

The sound of boots crunching against gravel alert her that the guard- sorry, _Wade_- is coming toward her. She turns to meet him, and his hand reaches out. Quickly, he grabs her shoulder and they both walk up to another fence. They stop at an intercom. He repeats the action again, and the metal fence pulls apart with a very loud grinding and squealing noise. The man and the girl wince at the noise and stand there for several seconds, trying to get their hearing back. After a few moments of silence, and when both Wade and the girl's ears don't hurt anymore, they continue walking up the long dirt road.

They walk for a few more minutes until they come to a large gray building that looms almost threateningly over them. It looks about the size of three of the largest prison in the world, and three times wide. The first thing she notices is the lack of windows on the building and the guard towers that are placed strategically around the building.

The girl frowns and looks over at the guard, and Wade looks back at her. "This is your new home, Subject AX46." He pauses for a few seconds, and then speaks up again. "Our organization is called the ASSULF, or the Association of the Scientific Study of Unusual Life Forms." He walks forward again, still speaking to her. "This Facility- Facility X- is where you will live for the rest of your life."

_Home sweet home. _She thinks bitterly as she moves up next to him, making a sour face, like she just ate a lemon. This will _not_ be a pleasant place to live, that's for sure.

A thousand questions surface in her mind, but she forces the questions back. She winces a bit as a bad headache starts to form in the center of her brain. She wants to know why exactly they took her, and why she's so special. She can't remember why she's special.

She can't remember anything at all, really. Not where she came from. She can't remember if she has siblings or not, if she has a _family_.

She can't even remember her own name.

As if reading her mind, Wade nods in understanding. "Home sweet home." He doesn't seem like he wants to be here anymore than she does.

The girl's feet feel like the are glued to the ground, stuck in place. The man- _Wade_, she reminds herself- begins walking forward again, taking three big steps forward. He pauses and looks back at her when he doesn't hear any sounds behind him. "Come on, Subject AX46." Wade instructs her gently, and she automatically moves forward again.

He pushes open the heavy door with a soft grunt. The hallway is completely dark, and the guard pulls out a thick flashlight and clicks it on. A beam of light cuts through the darkness. "You're going to visit our boss, Hatch, first, then I will escort you to your room. Hatch said to me would like to see you, Subject AX46."

That must not happen often, judging by the tone of Wade's voice. It sounds a bit… menacing. Ominous. And wary.

Whoever this Hatch guy is, he can't be a very pleasant person.

She frowns, stopping at the doorway. A hundred more questions race through her mind with the speed of a rocket or a really fast car, but she quickly forces them back with the power of sheer will. All of these questions make her head hurt. Her head definitely hurts a lot more than it did before. She knows this.

But she wants to know who Hatch is.

_Who the heck_ is_ this Hatch person? _She wonders, blinking two times. She looks over at the guard expectantly. He'd usually answer her.

But this time, she doesn't get an answer from him. Even when she asks the question with her eyes, Wade doesn't reply to her question. They walk in silence for the rest of the way.

* * *

><p>"So, this is the Subject we've been expecting? Is this one- the girl-" he glances at her before flicking his eyes back up to Wade, "you radioed me about in Los Angeles, Wade?" The man known as Hatch asks, leaning forward in his black leather chair, his arms folded across the mahogany desk, his piercing brown eyes inspecting the girl like a hawk stalking prey or a hunter looking at a deer from afar, looking to see if she's worth it or not. If it was worth the risk to send a military styled truck to Los Angeles and steal this girl off the street. Quite literally, she might add.<p>

The girl blinks at the man, taking in the details of the man who looks like he runs this place. The top dog. Hatch looks to be around his mid-thirties to early forties, judging from, well, everything about him. He has smooth, dark brown hair that's parted down the middle perfectly and combed to perfection like some professional stylist had done it and he has chestnut brown eyes that seem to glint in the lights. He's wearing some fancy suit with a fancy brand. She feels like she's seen that suit before.

The name pops up in her head. The suit brand/name is called Armani Collezioni. So Hatch is wearing a really expensive suit. A really luxurious suit. A very, very beautiful piece of clothing for a man who runs a Facility, that's for sure.

Wade nods his head. "Yes, sir."

"She doesn't look like much." Hatch comments coldly, leaning back in his chair.

The girl blinks at that.

"Is she a human being?" Hatch asks before either the girl or Wade can respond.

_Of _course_ she's human! _What kind of stupid question is that?

"We don't know, sir." Wade says, shrugging a little bit.

What a strange world she was thrown into. Of course, she can't remember anything about herself, but she's pretty sure that this was not the life she led before she got taken away by the truck in the middle of Los Angeles.

Hatch simply nods two times. "Okay."

Is that it? Just an 'okay?' She wonders, blinking, feeling three drops of fiery anger enter her veins and form into explosive anger. She had been ripped from the streets and thrown into the back of a truck and taken to some strange facility for just an okay? Is that all?

But the girl doesn't voice her thoughts.

"Please escort her to her room immediately." Hatch says, and the matter is closed. The leader of this place- she has no idea what to think of this place as, because it sure doesn't look like her new home, but it is- looks at her.

"I hope you've enjoyed the last taste of something called freedom, Subject AX47." Again with that Subject name. "Because that was the very last wisp of _your_ freedom." His eyes are frigidity cold and hard, like a chunk of granite or basically unbreakable ice. "Because your life has changed forever." He pauses, clearly waiting for the words to sink in completely.

The force of his words hit the girl like a ton of bricks, and instantly the girl winces. The words sink into her skin. The words burn. Her life _has_ changed forever.

Hatch puts the pen down and let looks directly at her. "Your old life- whatever life you had led before- ended the very second you got placed into the back of that truck." He pauses again, his eyes never leaving her face. "Your new life begins now."

And with that, Wade grabs her arm and they walk out of Hatch's office.

* * *

><p>Wade and the girl walk along many corridors, the long hallways that never seem to end. The walls are painted the same color. Gray. The walls are gray and bare, empty of anything, save for the lights that hang in many places. She stops counting how many times they've turned on the 15th turn.<p>

Wade pauses at a door, and the girl stops as well. "This will be your room now, Subject AX46." And with that, the guard pushes open the door.

The girl steps inside her room, carefully looking around.

Her room turns out to be a medium sized room with very little furnishings in it. The girl steps through the door. The guard- Wade- still stands outside of her door. He moves back two steps to allow her to breathe, to take it all in.

She doesn't know why he's still there. She doesn't bother to ask, to even open her mouth.

The walls are gray and cold and bare of anything, with no posters hung up on the wall or anything like that. She notices the lack of windows as well. That thought depresses her, but she doesn't show it.

Well, there must be a logical reason for that. The lack of windows in this place. That must be for so the girl can't look outside or escape- she's definitely going to go with the latter on that observation- so that means she can't see sunlight or rain anymore. She's sad. From what her conscious has been saying, she really likes the outside world.

It's such a shame that might possibly be the last time the girl will ever see real sunlight, real snow, real rain, real grass.

There is another room that connects to her room. The heavy wooden door that leads to it is closed. That must be the bathroom.

She looks around the room again, her eyes drinking in every detail of the room that is now hers, and hers alone.

There is a white desk in one of the four corners of the room, with a light on the desk that's plugged into an outlet that is carefully hidden by the desk. There are pens and pencils in a cup and a pad of bright white lined note paper. For drawing or for writing, she guesses. There is a white bed that's tucked in the corner of the room looks very comfortable, so the girl decides to sit down in the bed.

The girl stares up at the ceiling and something catches her eye. She notices a small round camera. A red flashes two times, indicating that it's on and working properly. The camera blinks once more before the red light glows dimmer, almost impossible to tell that it's still on. But the camera is still on. The people here probably had to readjust something so it worked better, maybe something interfered with the cameras' feed or something. But the camera is still on, and it works fine.

_Great_. _Just awesome._ Is her next thought. The tone of her voice surprises her. She sounds bitter. But she has a reason to sound like that. She's being monitored by these people. That means she can't have privacy. That is just _so_ amazing. Note the sarcasm there.

The girl sighs, running her hand through her long, waist length hair, pushing some strands of her hair out of her face.

Wade steps into the doorway and looks at her. "If you need anything," the guard says, "just press that button that's located near the desk. It'll send someone to your room, and they'll assist you." He motions to the desk with a jab of his finger. The girl allows her eyes to follow where his finger is pointing.

She hadn't seen the button before, but it's there. It's a small white button labeled in black lettering: 'Help.'

That seems very simple. She could just walk over and press it no problem.

The bed looks comfortable enough, so the girl drops down on the bed, feeling extremely tired and weary. Her long, thick hair spreads out on the pillow like a spider web. Messily. Some strands of her hair fall down her shoulders and to her chest, but she flicks some of the strands to the side, where they then fall loosely off her shoulders and curl ever so slightly.

She feels drowsy, so she'll sleep. That might be a good idea. She might need her strength for whatever will come tomorrow.

After a few minutes of tossing and turning in her bed, alternating between looking at the video camera and shutting her eyes, the girl closes her eyes one last time, and she drifts off into an uneasy sleep.


	3. Chapter 2: Learning About the ASSULF

**IMPORTANT A/N: Bree is not related to Adam or Chase in this story. She is not related to them by ANY means. Only Adam and Chase are related in this story. Bree is NOT related to Adam and Chase in I Am Unknown.**

* * *

><p>The girl blinks awake as she hears unfamiliar footsteps coming toward her door. She didn't press the button or anything. She has been sleeping for what seems like ten hours. She sighs and lays in her bed, and she yawns, bringing her hands up to her eyes and yawns. She notices fresh clothes sitting on a blanket, and she sits up now, inspecting the clothes, seeing what they gave her.<p>

They gave her a pair of comfortable clothes, including a pair of jeans, sweatpants, a plain white short sleeve shirt, socks and those gray pajamas and a pair of plain, laceless gray shoes, so she could just slip them on and not have to worry about tripping on loose laces. There's a black digital watch placed carefully on top of the neatly folded bundle of gray clothes, including a few gray hairbands and a few different colored hair ties, a silver comb, and a cute packet of bobby pins so she can put them in her long hair, and a little packet of scrunchies. All gray. She's pretty sure that if she hadn't lost her memory about everything in her past life- including her name and her family members; _if she has any_- she's sure she wouldn't be caught dead in everything that was just plain gray. Gray is just a really, really boring, really, really dull color.

The footsteps don't sound very familiar to her. They don't sound like Wade's; the guard's footsteps are heavy and weighed down due to his very heavy boots he's required to wear all day, every day- so she's a little bit wary of this new person. It probably couldn't be Hatch either. He's way too important to be visiting some unimportant amnesic girl.

So if Wade and Hatch are both out of the equation of being the person that belongs to the footsteps, the footsteps that are coming toward her room, that begs two very important questions: Who is it, exactly? And what do they- he or she- want from the girl?

The footsteps stop at her doorway, pausing, hesitating. The girl gets nervous. It buds in her stomach and expands throughout her body in a rock hard ball of worry and nervousness. What if they are taking her away for testing? What if she has to become their servant, their slave? What if they are going to make her go through painful simulations or hurt her, or what if they torture her for information that she doesn't know? What if she gets really, really hurt?

The doorknob turns slowly, and the slowly door swings open. It takes her a moment a adjust to the light, and she forces back the grogginess she's feeling. She blinks her eyes two times and adjusts her eyes to the light.

A girl stands there, about her height and her age, from the looks of it.. She's holding a tray of food in her hands. The girl has long brown hair and light brown eyes. The girl is holding a tray of food. She can see the steam rising from the food.

Her stomach growls, and she wonders how long it has been since she has eaten something, anything.

"Hello, Subject AX46." Says the female newcomer, walking into her room and placing the tray of food on the desk. "You must be hungry." Says the girl. It's not a question.

The girl nods and slowly rises out of the bed and makes the bed neatly before walking over to the desk, sitting down in the white chair.

She picks at the fried chicken and eats the pudding in six spoonfuls and devours the still-warm white bread and eats the mashed potatoes quickly, but doesn't really taste anything else. The green beans don't look very good, but she eats them anyway, feeling like she hasn't eaten in days. She drinks the small water bottle with relish, swallowing in four gulps. She suddenly feels refreshed, like she could run at hundred miles and not stop for breath for even one second.

The girl with the brown hair smiles brightly. That's basically the only bright thing in this place. "You must have been really hungry, Subject AX46."

She can only nod, and she eats the rest of her food, and she pushes the tray back, feeling satisfied.

The other girl grimaces a bit. "I don't like that name, you know. I'm sorry I have to use it." Then she pauses and adds as an afterthought, "Subject AX46."

They both wince at the name. Subject AX46 doesn't sound like a very fun name. They both hate it a lot.

"Can you remember your name?" The girl asks, tucking her brown hair behind her ear.

The girl shakes her head sadly, looking down at her hands for a moment. She wants to tell her that she can't remember anything about herself, but she doesn't dare write that down.

Then the girl blinks and grabs a pen from the cup and scribbles a note down on a piece of paper. She holds the paper up to the girl for her to answer.

"What's my name?" Asks the other girl, repeating the question to her, looking back and forth between the note and her for confirmation.

She nods two times, looking at the girl expectantly.

The girl smiles a little bit. "Bree Henderson. My name is Bree."

* * *

><p>That's probably the first and last note she will ever write to these people.<p>

* * *

><p>So as it turns out, Bree has been working here in this Facility- Facility X- for over seven months. It had been seven months three weeks ago. She and her friend, Adam, are workers here. They take care of the Subjects here.<p>

Which makes her wonder how many people- Subjects, whoever, _whatever_- are here.

Bree also told her that what they do here is very, very top secret. Only a few select Governmental figures know about what they do here, but that's really about it. The rest of the world is oblivious to what the ASSLUF do.

Most people have never heard of it, the ASSLUF, according to Bree, but what they do is very, very, _super_ important. They basically take into custody any life form (Bree would have used humans, but most of them _aren't_ human beings, which is probably why Hatch had asked the girl if she was a human being, and why Wade said they don't know, that they aren't sure) that's different and they study them. Like one time, a couple of years ago, a meteor crashed in the middle of Texas and spilt open after sitting there for over an hour, and there was an unknown creature inside. The ASSULF came in and swooped it away before anyone could notice (although how do most people not notice a really large _meteorite_ in the middle of Texas?) and took it here. They still have the creature in their care, and some of their highest clearance personnel are still running tests on it, hopping to see what life form it is, where it came from. It's pretty fascinating, actually.

Most people have heard of it, actually, but they call it Area 51, but they all think it's just a story, that it doesn't really exist. Both Bree and Adam- the girl still has no idea who this Adam guy is, but the way Bree talks about him, she sounds like she likes him- were two of those people. But the truth is, Area 51 _doesn't_ exist, because this place, well, it isn't Area 51. But the story of it- Area 51- came from the ASSULF, even though they are much kinder to their Subjects than everyone thinks, which mainly where the differences come in.

Bree and the girl sit in silence for a few moments. The girl absorbs the information quickly, which is probably a lot quicker than Bree had expected.

Most other people would just sit there in a stupor for many minutes, maybe even hours, their brains exploding from the mind blowing information, but not the girl. Not Subject AX46. She absorbs the information like a sponge absorbing water. Quickly.

"Wow. You absorbed the information really fast." Says Bree, blinking in shock a couple of times, her brown eyes full of shock and awe. "A lot faster than a person might've done."

The girl just shrugs her shoulders.

Bree looks down and glances at the watch that's on her wrist, and the girl does the same. It's 8:15 P.M., according to the watch.

Bree stands up, running her hand through her hair quickly. "My shift ends in fifteen minutes."

The girl nods, not speaking a word.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Bree asks gently, picking up the tray from the table. "Well, either Adam or Chase will stop by."

Again, the girl nods. She still has no idea who these people- Adam and Chase (there's another one?)- are.

"Don't worry, okay? Adam and Chase are amazing people. They're brothers, and two of the kindest people you'll ever meet."

The girl takes her word for it.

Bree smiles a bit at her and walks out the door, shutting it behind her.

The girl is alone again.


	4. Chapter 4: Boredom and Wine

She stares at the gray cold wall, feeling boredom creep into her veins with every passing minute. From what she's been told by Bree, the ASSLUF can cure cuts, bruises, scrapes, burns, concussions (horrible, nasty ones and non-fatal ones), broken bones, and sprains, and hundreds of other medical things. But she can't say the same for boredom. Boredom is the only thing they can't cure apparently.

And to her, boredom is the worst form of torture.

* * *

><p>The girl sighs, running her hand through her long hair. Her hair is too long. She wants to cut it desperately, but she doubts they'll give her anything to cut her hair with. Not even a pair of scissors. Something. Anything.<p>

The girl has had nothing to do. So to pass the time, she works out. Does sit-ups. Runs in place. Jumping-jacks. Things like that. Whatever helps her to pass the time that seems to go at a snails pace.

The things- she's not sure what else to call them- are tainted with something she can't identify. They're the wrong color on the edges. They're black around the edges. Deep, scary black that looks like it could swallow the- hallucinations?- whole. But the rest is in beautiful colors. Golds. Blues. Reds. Greens. Oranges. Browns. Pinks. Beautiful colors.

There are also people there, people she's never seen before. She has no idea who they are, but they seem familiar.

She desperately wants to unearth the memories, to find out more about her past, but as soon as they appear, they are gone, before she can even try to understand them. Which keeps her up at night. Which isn't a good thing.

She shakes her head and stares at the gray wall.

* * *

><p>She stares at Bree sadly, who sits across from her on her bed, sitting crisscross applesauce on the floor, her elbows resting on her knees.<p>

"Subject AX46-" they both wince at the name- "can you remember anything about your past?"

The girl shakes her head again. No. She still can't remember anything.

She doesn't dare tell Bree about the flashes of hallucinations she's been getting for a few days now. Somewhere around five days. Maybe six. It's kinda hard to keep track of time here. Well, the hours and minutes are easy, but they seem to blur together. She doesn't like it. At all. It bothers her, but she doesn't really care right now.

Bree sighs. "I'm sorry."

The girl just nods.

They lapse into silence yet again.

* * *

><p>Hatch stands up from his leather chair and smooths down his white shirt. He feels like he needs a drink. A celebratory drink because, well, he's captured another Unknown.<p>

Another Unknown is in his custody.

He walks over to a polished mahogany table with the gold trimmed cabinets and opens them, the perfectly oiled hinges not giving a sign of rusting. He bends down and inspects the many different- and very, very expensive- wines he has in the cabinet. His eyes skim over the nice brands with fancy labels and fancy lettering and different colored bottles until he finds one he likes, one he's in the mood for. He bends down and leans forward and grabs a bottle of 2008 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese Riesling from one of the two shelves that are in the nice display cabinet/case**. **He turns the bottle in his hands, nodding to himself. He likes the choice he made to pick up this brand. This brand is about one hundred and fifteen dollars. For a single bottle of this stuff. Kind of expensive to a middle class man, but not to Hatch. Sure, it would be a bit expensive to someone in a middle class family.

Sure, the price of this wine has one hundred and fifteen dollars. But it wasn't even close to being as expensive as some of the other brands he's drunk out of. Regardless, the 2008 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese Riesling- that is a hundred and fifteen dollars, mind you- is agood brand.

He grabs a crystal clear wine glass and carefully pours the one hundred and fifteen dollar wine in the pretty wine glass, and the lights that hang overhead make the glass sparkle elegantly.

He takes a small sip and swallows it before sitting down in his black leather chair, sinking down a bit.

A knock on the door interrupts him, and he looks away from his wine glass and up at the door, even though the person- people- can't see him. "Come in," he says carefully, and the door opens.

Two workers walk into the room, and the taller one and shuts the door behind him before stepping up to his brother. The one that shut the door behind him looks around to be eighteen years old. He's strong, with a raven black hair and dark brown eyes. Even though the boy isn't the sharpest knife in the set, he can lift heavy things without question.

The other boy is considerably smaller than him, but this one strong as well. Not as strong as his brother, but pretty strong. He's around sixteen years of age, with chestnut hair and hazel eyes. He's a good worker, and one of the smartest people Hatch knows.

"Sir," says the boy with the hazel eyes, "we've come to report to you that we have no known information on the girl, Subject AX46."

Hatch frowns. "Nothing? There's nothing?"

The other boy, the one with the raven hair, shakes his head. "No, sir. It's like she's a ghost."

Hatch sighs, dropping his head into his hands. Usually. No. Wait. _Actually_- _every single time_ they bring a new Subject in- there's a ton of information on the Unknown's. If they're human, for one. But no Subject has ever shown signs of amnesia, like the girl- Subject AX46. _Never_.

Which makes Hatch want to find every scrap of information he can on the girl. Everything.

And he has the perfect plan to get the information he wants, what he _needs_.

"You two," he says after a moment of silence, "can you do me a favor? It regards the girl- Subject AX46."

At that, their heads snap up, at full attention.

Hatch pauses again, peering at the raven-haired boy. "You, _Adam Davenport_," he clears his throat, "will be her friend. Along with Bree Henderson,"- Adam blinks at the mention of her name, "will also be her friend. I trust that you will pass this information to your friend, Bree, as soon as you can."

Adam nods firmly, but he doesn't look too happy about that.

"Sir?" The other boy asks tentatively, slowly, his hazel eyes staring into Hatch's eyes, "what do you suggest I do?"

"You, _Chase Davenport_, will be her best friend."

"But she could be dangerous." Protests Chase, blinking two times in shock. "We don't even know if she's human."

"Which is why you need to get as close to her as you possibly can. Be her friend. Her best friend. Learn as much information as you can about Subject AX46. Like if she remembers her name. I'm sure that'll be important."

Adam's brow furrows. "Is this like an operation, sir?"

"Yes, it's like an operation. It is like a mission, Adam Davenport. Let's call it a mission instead of an operation." Hatch says absently, taking a drink of his wine. He sets it down gently on the polished wood of his desk. "It sounds more…" he searches for the right word, "…_mysterious_." He smiles at that. He found the right word. "So yeah," he pauses to take a drink of his wine again, "we'll call it a mission."

Chase looks over at him again. "Sir, what happens if she doesn't open up?"

"You'll get her to open up, Chase Davenport."

Chase gives the tiniest of sighs, but Hatch ignores it.

"I trust that you will not fail me, then, Chase Davenport. Do not fail me." Hatch says, a subtle hidden meaning behind the words.

Chase nods quickly, understanding what he means. "I won't fail you, sir." He looks over at his brother, then at the clock that's on the wall. The clock says 10:57. "Come on, Adam. We should go. It's getting late."

Adam nods, his face suddenly tired. "Good night, sir." Adam says, obviously fighting the urge to yawn.

"Good night, Adam Davenport." Hatch says, taking another sip of the expensive wine.

"Good night, sir." Chase says, mirroring his brother.

"Good night, Chase Davenport." Hatch says again in the same monotone.

They turn to leave, and Adam walks out the door. Chase quickly follows behind him until he's standing in the threshold of the door, about to walk out and follow his brother down the hall to their rooms.

"Chase, wait a minute," Hatch calls to him, making him stop.

Chase turns back to him. "Yes, sir?"

"You'll have to do whatever it takes to find as much information about Subject AX46. Whatever it takes. You'll have to get really close to her, Chase. But do not raise suspicion about anything. Don't bring anything up that could put this mission in jeopardy. We can't allow the girl- Subject AX46- to know that we want to find as much information on her as possible. You know what you have to do, right?"

Chase nods his head.

"Then I hope you won't fail me, Chase Davenport."

Chase nods his head again. "I will not fail you, sir."

"Good night, Chase." Hatch says again.

"Good night, sir." Says Chase, then walks out the door, shutting it behind him. Hatch can hear his footsteps grow fainter as he walks away, further away from Hatch's office.

Hatch looks at the door again before clearing his throat. He reaches his hand out and grabs the crystal glass that's resting on his desk.

He lifts the glass up to his lips and drinks the rest of the 2008 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese Riesling in the sparkling wine glass.


	5. Chapter 5: Breakfast and Videogames

Chase Davenport rakes his hand through his spiky light brown hair. He doesn't want to do this, manipulate and lie Subject AX46 like this. But he has to. He has to do it because Hatch commanded it. And he can't let Hatch down. He'd be detained, thrown into some small cell and be isolated like some lab rat.

He grimaces at that. Subject AX46 is like a lab rat. A. Lab. Rat.

He feels a rather large twinge of sympathy for her. Subject AX46 must be so confused, so lost, so _scared_. It almost breaks his heart when he thinks about it. _Almost_. And he doesn't even _know_ the girl, for God's sake! Nope. Not at all.

But still, he has a job to do. He has to do what Hatch has asked him to do, no matter how much guilt he'll feel later. Which will probably be a lot.

He hates his job, but he knows that he can't complain. That wouldn't be a very good idea. Disobedience isn't tolerated in the ASSULF.

Chase sighs as he pulls himself out of his comfortable chair, his mind still thinking about Subject AX46.

He allows his mind to wander a bit. He thinks over some questions that had been lurking in his thoughts for a while. He comes up with a lot of questions, but no answers.

Why don't they have anything on her? Why don't they have any information on her? It doesn't make any sense. What the heck is wrong? Why did that happen, and happen to Subject AX46 specifically? That's _never_ happened before. Never. For as long as he can remember, there had always, _always_, been scraps of information on a species. _Always_.

So what makes Subject AX46 so special? Yeah, she is a human being, he can tell that much. The girl also lost her memory. Okay. That's not _so_ special, either. Oh, and she can't talk. Well, she might be able to talk, might know how to, but from what Bree's told him after she visits the girl in the cell, she will only write things down to her. She'll _write_ to Bree, but that's about it. The girl won't _speak_ a single word to them. She won't speak, save for writing what she wants to say down. Her not speaking to them isn't really a giant problem. It won't be a large setback for the mission that Hatch assigned them. The girl can just write things down to Adam, Bree, and himself if they ask her a question. That's not an issue.

The girl seems to like Bree, so all Adam and Chase have to do is become her friend and get as much information they can get on her. As discreetly as possible, he might add.

But still, there's no scrap of information on the girl, Subject AX46.

So what exactly makes her so special?

He winces as the thoughts now overcrowd his mind. He pushes them out of his head, grimacing.

He pulls on some clothes from his drawer, humming to himself a bit as he gets ready for the long day that's sure to come.

He pulls open his door and shuts it gently behind him, being careful not to wake the other workers in his hallway. He walks down the hallway to Adam's room, which is six doors down from his own room.

Chase stands at the door and readjusts his shirt, smoothing a wrinkle down. He knocks on the door. "Adam? It's Chase. Open up, please."

He can hear feet moving towards the door. The crisp, bright white painted door pulls open, and Adam stands there, a goofy but yet a sleepy smile on his face.

"Morning, Chasey." He says casually, waving a bit to him.

Chase nods politely to his brother. "Hi, Adam."

Adam suddenly looks confused. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you were up." He says, wringing his hands together to give him something to do. "Oh, also, it's breakfast time. Come on."

Adam's entire face brightens at the news. "Yay! Finally! It's breakfast time!" He grins his signature stupid, happy grin and basically runs down the hall to the cafeteria, a slight happy, peppy skip in his step.

Chase follows his brother towards the cafeteria, smiling and shaking his head at his dim-witted brother.

* * *

><p>"This is <em>so<em> freaking awesome." Adam grins, plopping down in a seat next to Chase.

The cafeteria is only half full, and looks like a typical high school cafeteria. A bunch of round and square tables, blue and yellow and red chairs. The walls are tiled a bright white, and the floor is tiled a dark blue color.

Chase rolls his eyes as Adam stares down at his food happily. "Adam, it's just breakfast."

Adam licks his lips. "Yeah, Chasey, but breakfast _is_ the most important time of the day." Adam states in a matter-of-factly tone as he unwraps the foil ware and begins to dig into his food. Scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, orange slices, and a carton of whole milk.

"I think you mean meal."

Adam shakes his head and stares blankly at Chase. "No, time. It's time."

Chase rolls his eyes again, not bothering to correct his older brother.

It's silent for a few moments until Adam speaks up again. "Chase, does this feel right to you?" His voice is grave, heavy.

Chase frowns, not understanding what his brother means. Which is weird. He can usually understand things pretty well. Ask him any math problem, and he'll answer it correctly without hesitating. He can't understand Adam's, well, um, rather… uh, …dim witted… logic. "What?" He asks.

"The whole mission with unearthing Subject AX46's past." He pauses. "Her past." He repeats, with a twinge of something that sounds like pain. "Her _life_." Adam winces at that, like he just got slapped by a really strong man.

Chase shakes his head, dropping his voice to a low murmur, only loud enough for Adam to hear. "No. It doesn't feel right."

Adam just sighs as he picks up a slice of toast. "She's probably so confused." He picks up a butter knife and begins smearing butter all over the toast.

"That's what I was thinking," Chase admits, taking a small sip of his orange juice before setting the glass down on the table, "just how… How lost and confused and scared she must be."

Adam grimaces at that. He quickly shoves the buttered toast in his mouth, chews it quickly, and then swallows it in just a few bites. He turns his attention to his scrambled eggs, picking up the salt shaker that's on the table. He pours a ton of salt on his eggs, picking up his fork. He digs in and finishes his scrambled eggs before standing up to go get more without saying a word to Chase.

Chase has never seen someone eat so much food like his brother. Never. It's like his stomach is some giant black hole that keeps demanding food constantly, all day and all night. It amazes him, to be honest.

Chase picks at his toast, chewing and swallow mechanically, but not really tasting the food. His stomach twists into knots as he's eating, but after what seems like hours, he finishes his food.

He stands up from his chair and runs his hand through his spiky hair. He grabs his tray and hands it to one of the lunch lady's and watches as Adam finishes his fifth- yes, _fifth_- plate of scrambled eggs.

Adam walks over, wiping his hands with a napkin. He throws the napkin in the garbage and stands next to Chase, looking ready to go,

Chase arches his eyebrow at his older brother. "You good now, Adam?"

Adam nods his head two times, wiping his hands on his blue jeans. "I'm good now, Chase."

Chase smiles a bit. "Come on. Let's get back."

Adam begins walking forward and out the thick double wooden doors, and Chase follows his brother down the long stretches of hallways, towards Adam's room. They quickly enter the room, and Chase sits down on the couch.

"You want to play video games?" Adam asks after a moment.

Chase nods. "Yeah. Let's play Mental Chaos."

Adam grins, a spark of confidence flashing across his brown eyes. "I'm so going to beat you. Chase."

Chase rolls his eyes. "Sure, Adam. Whatever you need to tell yourself."

Adam rolls his eyes and moves over to his sixty inch flat screen TV (courtesy of the one and only Hatch) and pops the video game into the consul. He grabs the main controllers and the mind helmets.

Chase puts the video game helmet on and reaches over and grabs two out of the four hand strip controllers. He throws one to his brother and slips the other one on, fastening it so it's not too loose or too tight. He flexes his hand and presses a few buttons to make sure that everything is working properly.

"You ready to get your scrawny little butt kicked, Chase?" Adam asks, smirking toothily.

Chase stares at him, feeling confidence swell up inside of him. "I'm so going to make you regret those words."

* * *

><p>Two and a half hours later, Adam throws his Mental Chaos helmet across the room. It lands with a dull thud on the carpeted ground, and Chase looks over at his brother.<p>

"I won, Adam." He smirks smugly.

Adam skulks at crosses his arms over his chest. "I hate you." He says like a two year old. Childishly.

Chase rolls his eyes. He knows that Adam's only saying that because he's upset. Adam doesn't hate him. He might say that, but he doesn't actually hate him.

"Chase," Adam says suddenly, looking over at him. "I don't want to do this."

Now Chase understands what he means. He nods gravely, feeling his stomach twist a bit. "I know. Neither do I. But we have to." He feels sick.

Adam sighs for literally half a minute. He throws his hand strip controller on the spot on the couch seat next to him, then places the main controller next to him, and it lands next to the hand strip controller.

"I won't like this." Adam pauses as if collecting his thoughts. "In fact, I hate this." He sounds bitter. And angry,

Chase doesn't say anything as he shrugs off the Mental Chaos helmet before setting the controller and the video game strip next to the controller. He just nods his head in agreement and ignores the sick feeling in his stomach.

* * *

><p>A knock on the door pulls Chase out of his thoughts. Okay, okay, guilty. He was thinking about Subject AX46. That girl seems to be on his mind a lot lately. It's probably not healthy, but whatever. He can't help it.<p>

He lifts himself out of his comfortable blue chair, rubbing his eyes. "Come in." He says, and the door opens.

A man dressed in the regular, white crisp ASSULF uniform walks in. He's wearing the standard white uniform, like an outfit one of the Peacekeepers wore from the book Hunger Games. Complete with the white helmet that completely covers their heads. For protection.

For the first few years- when the ASSULF was first forming, and when the technology wasn't as advanced as it is now- many of the extraterrestrial life forms they had encountered- and still encounter- can shut human minds down, cause amnesia, and literally splatter a human beings brains across the wall like a child splattering paint everywhere. But as technology advanced, they've been able to block the signal waves.

So that's why the guards have these helmets. So that their brains and their heads don't explode like a water balloon full of really chunky soup.

"Chase Davenport," says the man's voice, "you are going to meet Subject AX46 today."

Chase nods.

The guard doesn't move or speak for several seconds. "You know what you have to do, right, Chase?" It sounds like he's talking to a three year old child.

Or Adam.

Chase resists the urge to kick him in the soft spot. So he just nods his head again, firmer this time. He wants to say that he'd like Hatch to go screw himself and shove him off a cliff, but he'd be detained and thrown into the Bowl and possible eaten alive by a bunch of deadly rats. Seriously. They can do that. They've done it seven times since Chase started working here. It's not pretty, that's for sure.

"Okay, Chase. Come with me." The guard walks out the door and down the long hallway, and Chase follows him.

They go down several flights of stairs, to the lower levels of the Facility, where the temperature drops to freezing cold. So cold he can see his breath as he sucks in a deep breath and exhales slowly, trying calm himself down. Chase resorts the urge to go bolting past the bulky guard and upstairs, back to his heated and comfortable room.

God, he hates the Sub-Levels. They're always so cold. So cold. He's not sure how any human could survive down here, especially in a cold temperatures like this.

He wonders if Subject AX46 is a human being.

They walk down a long hallway until they stop at cell, and the light blue and green colored holograph panel reads **SUBJECT AX46 **in thick, bold and black lettering.

"Here," the guard hands him a black button that feels light in Chase's tan hand, "this is in case the Subject gets violent. Just press the button once. It will silently alert us, and we'll take you out of the room as soon as possible."

Chase nods, pushing down the nervousness he feels pitting in the very center of his stomach. He hopes that on the outside he doesn't look even remotely close to how sick he feels on the inside.

"Good luck with your mission, Chase Davenport." The guard says to him, then walks away. Chase waits until the guard is out of sight, and he can't hear the guard's heavy footsteps echo in the long tiled- and so impossibly cold- hallway anymore.

Chase takes a deep breath and pushes open the door.


	6. Chapter 6: That Is Not My Name

Chase walks through the door and shuts it behind him- and he is thankful to be out of the freezing cold, completely dead empty (and slightly creepy) hallway. He just awkwardly stands there in the doorway, not moving in inch. His eyes drink in the room, his eyes slowly moving from the desk to the bed where the girl sits on it comfortably, her knees tucked up to her chest and her chin on her right knee. She doesn't bother to look up from her fixated eyes on the spot on the floor.

The girl sits there on the small white bed, looking so small, helpless, wary, confused, scared, and kind of uncomfortable. She looks so out of place compared to the room it actually hurts Chase's heart to look at her.

So what does that tell him about what he'll have to do to her? _Lie_ to her? _Manipulate_ her? And for what purpose, exactly? To gain information on a seemingly innocent looking girl.

But no. No, he reminds himself. This girl- Subject AX46- is not innocent. The girl has been brought here for a reason, maybe a reason only Zachary Hatch knows.

Yes. Of course. The girl might look so very innocent, might have Bree Henderson- his best friend- fooled, but this girl is not actually innocent. He feels like he should know this. He can't be fooled by her. She's not innocent. Subject AX46 might not be human, not of this Earth, from another world or planet or Galaxy that's situated a six trillion and a half Light Years away. She could be expertly playing- _acting_- the part as an amnesiac girl/human, having a mask to protect herself and her species, a façade.

And he doesn't like it one little bit.

Chase can't help but think that this mission is kind of stupid. She most definitely won't talk to him. Why would she? She doesn't know him, much like he doesn't know her. So why did Hatch send _him_ to become friends with Subject AX46? Him, of all people? There are certainly plenty of _other_ able-bodied, willing teenage workers here that could become friends instantly with the girl. Subject AX46 is beautiful. Certainly the most beautiful thing- creature, alien, _human_, whatever/whoever- he has ever laid eyes on in the literal sixteen years he's been alive for, that's for dang sure. She's certainly very beautiful- with her long, light blonde hair and pretty sky blue eyes and her full pink lips and her flawless, beautiful sun kissed tan skin that looks as vibrant as the in this completely colorless room- enough to have any- maybe _every single_- boy in the world to kiss the ground she walks on and worship her like she's some type of Goddess.

…So why out of all scientists and workers and assistances in ASSLUF's Facility X did Hatch assign Bree Henderson, Adam Davenport and Chase Davenport to become friends with her? Why them? Why Adam, Bree and Chase specifically? Why would Zachary Hatch do that?

Well, Hatch is a weird and very complex person, with an even more complex and hard to figure out mind, so who exactly knows how his mind works, what he thinks, how he runs this Facility? Not Chase, that's for sure.

"Hello, Subject AX46." He says carefully, watching her face for any signs of discomfort or fear, something that would force Chase to get out of the room as soon as possible.

The girl looks up from her spot on her bed, her blue eyes hard. Guarded. Wary. She has a very good reason to be guarded, after all. She's been thrown into a brand new world, with no recollection of who she is. That must be very scary for the girl.

He pauses before speaking again. "My name is Chase Davenport."

Her eyes flicker with some weird emotion. Recognition, maybe? Maybe Bree told her about him while she was visiting her one time. Yeah. That's probably it.

For some stupid reason, he feels like he's talking to a brick wall. (Or, well, his older brother. Seriously. Adam can be as thick as a brick wall and as dull as a rock.)

But no, Subject AX46 is a lot smarter than Adam despite her quota-quote "amnesia."

So that begs the question: What exactly _is_ this girl's angle? Even though Chase _is_ one of the smartest people in this Facility, he can't seem to figure this girl out. Which is weird.

Chase blinks and shakes his head to rid him of his very conflicting thoughts. He takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales through his mouth. His mind clears suddenly, and he walks towards the girl very slowly, paying close attention to her face for any signs of immediate discomfort so he can just jump back to the spot in the doorway easily.

He doesn't find any emotion close to discomfort when he walks towards her, so he decides to take that as a good sign.

Chase finally reaches the foot of the bed, and he stands in front of her bed awkwardly, and she scoots over to the side a bit before motioning to the chair with a wave of her hand that's sitting off to the side of the the small white bed.

_Oh_. He thinks after a minute. _The girl wants me to sit down. Duh._ And he does just that, slowly sitting down in the white metal chair. Chase winces as the cold metal touches his back, and he shudders a bit at the feel of the cold metal.

The girl sits up straight suddenly and just just stares at him with her still guarded sky blue eyes, as if figuring him out, depicting his past. Figuring out who he is, seeing if he poses some type of threat to her. As if he wants to physically hurt her, threaten her.

But… but why would he want to do that? He'd never stoop that low. Never hurt another human being, alien, thing, species, whatever. He's not a monster.

He is not Hatch.

He speaks up again after yet another moment of complete silence between the two. "Subject AX46-"

"That is not my name."

The words slice across the room like a hot knife cutting through soft, room temperature butter.

Chase stares at the girl, and she stares back at him, looking at him directly in the eye.

"That's not my name." She says again, her blue eyes burning with enough intensity to create a lightning bolt.

Chase frowns, hoping to get something more out of her. "Then what _is_ your name?"

The girl shakes her head, shrugging. "I don't know. I don't know anything else. I don't know who I am or where I came from, but I do know one single thing." She pauses and stares at Chase again, her sky blue eyes still burning. "But the only thing I know is that Subject AX46 is not my real name."

"Can you remember your real name?" He asks.

But the girl that is not named Subject AX46 anymore- (which begs the question: what _is_ her real name?)- doesn't answer his question.

She rolls on her side and faces the bare gray wall, turning away from him.


End file.
